I was just thinking of a different way to present an RPG. I was thinking of a series, with really detailed cahracter development, and a very deep involving story. Like a TV Series. Each game would be maybe around 5-10 hours. The games would cost less. Of course there would be problems, like say someone starts from episode 4 instead of 1, then their stats would be useless, so, I figure you could make all the monsters/bosses'' stats _dependant_ on the players stats. Like a player whos at level 2 would face a weaker version of the same monster then a player thats on level 5. Also for each episode there could be multiple entry and exit points. Where you start from in episode 2 depends on where you finished from in episode 1. Of course there should be a kind of story spine (something in the story that isnt solved till the last episode), and then each episode will have to have its own conflict that needs to be resolved. I havent seen something like this done before. Im wondering if people would actually warm up to an RPG series. The problem would be getting them to play that first part. I think it will all depend on that first part of the series. What pros/cons do u guys see with this? also are there any games out there that have done this? :::: [ Triple Buffer V2.0 ] ::::

".hack//SIGN" (PS2) I believe is doing this (at least, the Japanese version)
"El Dorado Gate" (DC) lasted something like 4 or 6 volumes, all relatively budget priced.

Technically, the first three Wizardry''s (Apple 2) were a continuous series (I think). But there wasn''t much of a story there.

Personally, I wouldn''t warm up to this any more than I''d warm up to sitting down and watching a season of X-Files DVDs. Knowing the linearity was not only forced but also broken up ahead of time would drive me away - but then, I''m not one for story-based RPG gaming.

It basically boils down to whether or not you''re going to require the player to start from Episode 1. If not (allowing them to make a slightly more buffed up party to start on Episode 2) then you might as well make seperate games - it''ll give you a sense of accomplishment each time you finish one. If you DO require starting from the beginning, then there''s no real reason to make them seperate entitiies. Just add on to the game when you have time - there''s nothign stopping that from being modular/episodic.

-scott

It would also take a while to market each game and get it ready to sell each one...........you can''t do that quickly. Unless you want to keep the game crappy and undeveloped.

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So...how does this "reproductive system" of yours work? -Anonymous

I''d say FORCE players to play through consecutively. Instead of having each episode be completely seperate, make an initial engine+episode 1, and have the subsequent episodes be something like add-ons/expansion packs/mods for other games that will each continue where the last one left off. You could have the episodes come out every month or so, or something like that. It would take a lot of work and thought to get it to work, but I think it would be kind of cool. If it was stretched out long enough, and each episode was long enough, it could work. Some people of course could just wait until the whole thing is finished, in which case it might as well have been released as just a full game (maybe at the end you can release it as a full game) but if you create it in a linear fashion, it could be like letting people play it as you make it.

Some opensource/freeware games are already like this, because you get to the end of the "demo" but cant play on until more of the game is made.

It seems like this is a single player game... I think that in a single player game the player should be able to call all the shots. I''m glad that king''s quest did not FORCE me to play consecutively, because I didn''t like all of them, some beforehand. And just allowing to port my character to future editions, even if I skipped 2 games, hurt no one.

quote: Original post by Taco
It seems like this is a single player game... I think that in a single player game the player should be able to call all the shots. I''m glad that king''s quest did not FORCE me to play consecutively, because I didn''t like all of them, some beforehand. And just allowing to port my character to future editions, even if I skipped 2 games, hurt no one.

Kings quest were all games by them selves, not related to one another. Some were good some where bad. You didnt need to play 1 to know exactly what was going on in 2. With the series its more difficult, If a user dosnt like the first game then they wont give the seconf a chance. Just like TV series.

Also just like a TV series, There would have to be some major conflict that is really really intresting, and that gets closer to being solved every series....like in Dark Angel her ultimate goal is finding her brothers/sister, and X-Files mulders ultimate goal is finding out what happened to his sister. But in each episode there is a single intresting conflict resolved which is most of the time connected to the big conflict in one way or the other. Some episodes have a "To Be Continued..." at the end too, same thing can happen with the series.

quote: I''d say FORCE players to play through consecutively.

That''s what I thought too, but after some thought I figured it would be better to have multiple entry points and multiple exit points. The entry point depends on the exit point from episode (currentEpisodeNum - 1). That way the user can play through the whole series a few times and get different results.

Also I was thinking....you think it''s ok to have a bad path. I mean like a path that leads to teh end of the game but dosnt resolve the issue, or resolves the issue in a bad way. And this path might depend on something the user did around 30 hours ago? Is this too extreme?

quote: Personally, I wouldn''t warm up to this any more than I''d warm up to sitting down and watching a season of X-Files DVDs.

what if it was not linear?

quote: It basically boils down to whether or not you''re going to require the player to start from Episode 1. If not (allowing them to make a slightly more buffed up party to start on Episode 2) then you might as well make seperate games

thats what I was thinking, But I want all the games to be short (~5 hours), and related to one another. That would allow for a very complex story spine, but in a non-linear way. Modularity, I feel, will allow for a lot more flexibility.


:::: [ Triple Buffer V2.0 ] ::::

If I''m not mistaken Morrowind did this. From what I hear, their expansion can only be played (effectively) if you have beaten or gotten a very high level in the original.

Also, Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X2 are taking up the idea of further character development. Never thought I''d see a sequel of a sequel. Not very happy about this one since out of all the FFs part X was my least favorite. Nevertheless, it''s being done. Though with Final Fantasy X2 I''m pretty sure you will start from the beginning again. Granted, this begining might pick up where you left off before, but you can bet that the initial creatures you will fight will be the weakest ones in the game, which in a sense is simply starting over on level 100 (or whataver).

Also, most MMORPGs (the successful ones anyway) do this effetively when they add expansion packs.

Not trying to shoot your idea out of the sky but simply stating that is has and is being done and usually it is pretty successful.

Just my thoughts,

Webby

If I''m not mistaken Morrowind did this. From what I hear, their expansion can only be played (effectively) if you have beaten or gotten a very high level in the original.

Also, Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X2 are taking up the idea of further character development. Never thought I''d see a sequel of a sequel. Not very happy about this one since out of all the FFs part X was my least favorite. Nevertheless, it''s being done. Though with Final Fantasy X2 I''m pretty sure you will start from the beginning again. Granted, this begining might pick up where you left off before, but you can bet that the initial creatures you will fight will be the weakest ones in the game, which in a sense is simply starting over on level 100 (or whataver).

Also, most MMORPGs (the successful ones anyway) do this effetively when they add expansion packs.

Not trying to shoot your idea out of the sky but simply stating that is has and is being done and usually it is pretty successful.

Just my thoughts,

Webby

quest for glory series. you could play them each individually and get pretty drawn in by each individual story yet by playing them through from the beginning of the series you understand some of the inside jokes, and basically it is a richer playing experience. they worked around the problem with stats by having the next game in the series have around the same amount of points to distribute as a character who would have finished the previous game. advantages of playing through from the first series unlocked the paladin class. dunno how much relevance this is but anyways :D

Seige of Avalon uses this format for single player. <a href="http://www.seige-of-avalon.com">www.siege-of-avalon.com</a>